Vivo V23 Pro 5G Review – Good Selfies But at Premium Price

Since its launch in India, Vivo has wreaked chaos on the smartphone market in a variety of ways. It guaranteed that the smartphones were pocket-friendly in addition to giving multi-feature phones. Vivo is kicking off 2022 with the V series, a premium smartphone. It is a significant improvement over its predecessor, not only in terms of internal hardware but also in terms of design language.

The colour-changing back glass, two front cameras for selfies, and the promise of excellent overall performance thanks to the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 CPU are the highlights here. Apart from its colour-changing back glass and dual front cameras, the smartphone has a lot of exciting features. Today, I am reviewing the Vivo V23 Pro 5G, and here’s what I think about Vivo’s latest smartphone.

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Vivo V23 Pro 5G‘s 8GB RAM + 128GB storage option is priced at Rs. 38,990 in India, while the 12GB RAM + 256GB storage option costs Rs. 43,990. The new Vivo smartphone comes in two colours: Stardust Black and Sunshine Gold.

It is available for sale on Flipkart and other offline merchants, in addition to the official website.

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Inside the box of Vivo V23 Pro 5G, you will find the following items:

• V23 Pro device
• Documentation
• USB Cable
• 44W Charger
• 3.5mm headphone jack converter
• Sim Ejector Tool
• Transparent Soft Case
• Screen Protective Film (Pre-applied)

Before we talk in detail about the Vivo V23 Pro 5G, let’s see what the on-paper specs look like:

• Display: 6.56 inches AMOLED
• Chipset: MediaTek Dimensity 1200
• RAM & ROM: 8GB RAM 128GB Storage, 12GB RAM 256GB Storage
• Software: Android v12
• Rear camera: 108MP + 8MP + 2MP
• Selfie camera: 50MP + 8MP
• Battery: 4300 mAh
• Weight: 171 grams
• Dimensions: 159.4 x 73.2 x 7.3 mm

The design is where Vivo has put the most effort into this new smartphone. Of course, there’s the AG Fluorite glass rear panel, which changes colour from golden to coral blue whenever exposed to sunlight or UV light. This is V23 Pro’s most eye-catching feature, and it works quite well, providing you with two colour options to experiment with. Of course, this will not work if you put a case on unless there’s a transparent case. Aside from that, Vivo V23 Pro 5G is pretty light, weighing only 171 grams.

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The compact form of the smartphone also makes it very easy to grip and use. I thought the large notch (which houses the dual-selfie camera system) was more of an annoyance. The majority of consumers will be fine with it, but in 2022, they should have come up with something new. Vivo has put the dual-LED flash horizontally beside the centre-most camera lens, despite the fact that the three cameras are stacked vertically. As a result, the camera island is bigger than necessary, squarish, and has a bunch of empty space around the LED flash.

The back of the Vivo V23 Pro 5G is made of glass, whereas the sides are still polycarbonate, no metal frame yet. On the bottom and sides of the smartphone are a single bottom-firing speaker, a Type-C charging port, a dual-SIM slot, volume rockers, and a power button. The curved screen, which falls a little too much from the sides, and the notch that houses the two front cameras are two things I don’t like about this smartphone. Sure, it gives the phone a more premium appearance, but it also attracts dozens of new accidental touches. Overall, I’d say Vivo has put a lot of attention into the design, and it has paid off. Vivo V23 Pro 5G has a premium appearance and is quite light.

Vivo V23 Pro 5G sports a 3D curved display on the front. It has a 6.56-inch AMOLED display with an aspect ratio of 18:10 and a refresh rate of 90Hz. It’s a pity Vivo didn’t upgrade to a 120Hz smartphone, especially in this price bracket. Despite this, I had no problems with the display. It’s bright enough for outdoor use and crisp enough for indoor use. However, auto-brightness is a problem that several of its competitors have as well. The brightness doesn’t always adjust to the varying lighting within the house, and it sometimes drops to the lowest available setting, making it nearly impossible to read. The display has Widevine L1 certification, HDR10+ compatibility, and TUV Rheinland certification. I thoroughly enjoyed the first few episodes of Money Heist on Netflix.

Deep blacks are available on the Vivo V23 Pro 5G, thanks to the AMOLED display. This results in a fantastic viewing experience when watching TV series or movies. The immersive viewing experience is enhanced by the curved edges. It’s a nice display that makes watching movies and playing games enjoyable, but it falls well short of the competitors in terms of resolution and refresh rate. However, because of the curved edges, I would mention that finding a screen guard can be challenging. And, as I recently discovered, getting someone to install a screen guard on such a smartphone is even more difficult. Overall, ​​the display of Vivo V23 Pro 5G is bright enough, with a peak brightness of 800 nits, has brilliant colours, darker blacks, and crisper text.

Vivo V23 Pro 5G is powered by the MediaTek Dimensiy 1200 chipset. The smartphone comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, as well as 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It’s a good value-for-money chipset that doesn’t let you down. I saw no lag whether taking photos, playing mobile games, taking notes, surfing through social media feeds, or replying to emails on a daily basis. Vivo V23 Pro 5G’s multitasking abilities are assisted by UFS 3.1 storage and LPDDR4x memory, which helps to reduce loading times. Vivo makes use of the virtual RAM feature in this phone that we’ve seen on a lot of other smartphones already. This allows for an additional 4GB of storage to be assigned as ‘Extended RAM,’ though you can also disable it from the settings.

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There were no lags or flickers when switching between apps or playing games. Asphalt 9, PUBG Mobile, COD: Mobile, Genshin Impact, all ran flawlessly. The phone’s compact design also made it easier to hold throughout long gaming sessions, which I appreciated. During my lengthy gaming session, Vivo V23 Pro 5G did get a little warm, but not hot enough to cause concern. There is an Ultra Game Mode that includes Battery Saver, Balanced, Performance, and Esports settings. Eagle Eye View, 4D Game Vibration, Voice Changer, and other features help to improve the entire game experience.

Vivo V23 Pro 5G, like previous Vivo smartphones, runs Vivo’s own custom UI, dubbed as FunTouch 12. This one is based on the Android 12 operating system. Vivo has done an excellent job of keeping its customers up to date with the latest and best Android features. While the brand has simplified the UI, it is still packed with bloatware, including the unnecessary Hot Games and Hot Apps folders. Vivo has brought over features including the new notification and quick setting panel, as well as the mic access in-use indicator. However, some of the personalization and smart control features are missing.

Users that upgrade from Android 11 into Android 12 will see that the phone’s user interface remains somewhat the same. However, Google has included a slew of privacy measures in the latest Android operating system, which you’ll notice as you use the phone. When you make a phone call, you’ll notice a green light flickering in the right corner, indicating that your device’s microphone is now being used. When you’re on a video call, you’ll notice the microphone and camera at the same time.

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If you use the smartphone’s Face Unlock feature, the camera icon would display on the right side each time you unlock it, indicating that the phone’s camera is in use. Not only that, but you’ll be able to see which apps have been granted which permissions on your phone. The Vivo V23 Pro 5G’s interface is simple to use and, despite the bloatware, appears to be rather clean. I personally love the built-in screen and call recorder, as well as the feature of Dark Mode plus the Always-On display.

Vivo V23 Pro 5G features three cameras on the backside, including a 108MP camera, an 8MP ultra-wide lens having a 120-degree field of view, and a 2MP macro camera. The 50MP primary selfie shooter is housed in the notch on the front, along with an 8MP lens for wide-angle shots.

The Vivo V23 Pro’s camera performs admirably in real-life situations. In outside lighting, it captures crisp, detailed images that look great when viewed on a bigger screen. The images are sharp and have a lot of detail, however, the colour accuracy is just a little off. The images may appear slightly overexposed at times, but this is a very subjective matter that cannot be judged only on the basis of one person’s view. The shots look just fine indoors as well, as long as the lighting is adequate. The camera takes a long time to capture an image in low light, and the results are a little grainy.

The Vivo V23 Pro 5G’s camera surprised me the most in portrait mode since it does an excellent job of focusing on the subject while blurring the background. The best thing is that the Vivo V23 Pro 5G does not overkill the background blurring or overly sharply trim the edges. It does a fantastic job at keeping shots subtle and not making the usage of AI obvious.

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The smartphone is focused on users who want a high-end selfie camera, and it delivers that. Some of the selfies were truly amazing. In addition, the camera app includes a number of beautifying features. Low-light selfies were also fantastic, thanks to the Vivo V23 Pro 5G’s one-of-a-kind dual-flash setup placed just above the selfie module, which helped to boost the quality! Even the selfie cameras’ portrait mode captured stunning images.

The battery life on Vivo V23 Pro 5G is also quite impressive. Given that it is not the largest battery unit, it got me about 8 hours of screen time on normal usage, which is great. Vivo V23 Pro 5G comes packed with a 4,300mAh battery that lasts a long time. Given that I ran the smartphone on the 90Hz refresh rate at manual brightness settings all the time, thanks to the Chinese manufacturer’s excellent power management. Another factor is the AMOLED display’s tendency to turn off and shut individual pixels, which reduces battery consumption.
The battery in this smartphone isn’t the best, but I believe it will suffice for most users that use their handsets for texting, making phone calls, watching youtube videos, listening to music, and so on. If you play heavy games on this phone for long periods of time, the battery life will suffer, but nonetheless, you can expect a day’s worth of battery performance from the Vivo V23 Pro 5G.

Now the 44W fast charging is quite quick. While it doesn’t always charge the device at 44W, as the company claims, it still charges the smartphone from 0 to 100 per cent in less than an hour.

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There’s a single bottom-firing speaker present on the Vivo V23 Pro 5G which does the job well. There are no dual speakers or a 3,5mm audio jack, which is unfortunate. Vivo includes 3.5mm earphones and a Type-C to 3.5mm converter with the smartphone. When it comes to network support, the phone is compatible with the n1/n3/n5/n8/n41/n77/n78 spectrum bands of 5G SA (stand-alone). Supports all 4G/3G/2G bands at the same time. It will also include VoLTE as well as VoWi-Fi calling functionality.

Vivo V23 Pro 5G has a face unlock feature as well as an optical in-display fingerprint scanner that is well-placed and works accurately.

Pros

• 50MP dual selfie camera 
• 108MP triple rear camera  
• Excellent design 
• Extended RAM 2.0 

Cons

• There is no 3.5mm headphone jack
• There are no stereo speakers